“Carter, who came into prominence in the 1950s alongside composers like Boulez, Stockhausen, and Berio, was never exactly a “popular” composer, but he was invariably a respected one–perhaps the respected one in the last quarter of the twentieth century–and those who loved his music found it like nothing else in the world. If I were to wager on posterity, he would seem a safe and honorable bet.”
Tag: 11.05.13
Lynn Coady Wins Canada’s Giller Prize For Hellgoing
The Cape Breton-born Edmonton resident receives the $50,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize for a short story collection praised by jurors Margaret Atwood, Esi Edugyan and Jonathan Lethem for its “keen and sympathetic wit”.
History Channel Plans To Remake Roots
“History is taking on one of most celebrated TV programs of all time, blockbuster 1977 miniseries Roots. The cable network is planning a new eight-hour Roots miniseries after acquiring rights to the 12-hour original.”
How the Brain Gets Addicted To Gambling
“Ten years ago the idea that someone could become addicted to a habit like gambling the way a person gets hooked on a drug was controversial. … Now researchers agree that in some cases gambling is a true addiction” that rewires the brain the way some drugs do.
He’s A Saudi Army Officer And A Conceptual Artist
“One would think his military role might preclude him from making politically charged works, yet much of [Abdulnasser] Gharem’s art takes aim at the obscurantism and conservatism that he sees as pervasive in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.”
Study Calculates Economic Value Of An Arts Education
The study concludes by stating that there’s likely a strong correlation between training in the arts and success as a scientist or engineer–success that can be “measured in economically valuable products such as patentable inventions and the founding of new companies.”
As Churches Decline, A Surge In Organ Music?
“The standard of organ playing in the US is higher than it has ever been in history. Perhaps there are not quite as many students as there were, say, 50 years ago, but the quality is remarkably higher.”
Did Bill Gates Equate Funding Museums With Blinding People?
“Citing Peter Singer, ethicist of choice for under-thought yuppie sanctimony, Gates offers a seemingly reasonable but logically incomplete equivalence between donating money to a museum for a new wing and culpability for the consequences of those funds not being spent on more fundamental human needs elsewhere in the world.”
Designers Are Losing Traditional Design Skills Because Of Computers
“More and more products on the shelves have been purely designed via an IT screen, and you can tell – they possess no inherent material qualities. They might look well-finished but they are often unsympathetic to the materials used.”
Study: Those Music Lessons You Took As A Kid? They’ll Help When You Get Old
“In a just-published study, senior citizens who took four to 14 years of music training early in life performed better than non-musicians on a specific brain function that is vital for interpersonal communication: recognizing fast-changing sounds.”